1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of contactless circuitry and, more particularly, to Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) devices and methods related to secure, confidential or proprietary data.
2. Description of Related Art
Theft of credit or debit card information and identification has become rampant worldwide. Governments, companies, and consumers spend millions of dollars each year to prevent and pursue such thefts.
Over the years, various types of identification technology has been used for credit or debit cards and for identification. These, for example, have included pin numbers, bar codes, and magnetic strips. More recently, however, steps have been taken to use RFID or other contactless chip technology in association with credit or debit cards, passports, documents, and other areas where identification, including portable and remote, are desired. An example of such applications of RFID can be seen in a recent news article titled “Contactless Traveling” by Wright (Electronic Design News (EDN) Jul. 7, 2005) for passport applications.
Nevertheless, the recent developments in technology still do not fully address potential security breaches of the RFID such as when an unauthorized RFID interrogation or reading device attempts to extract the RFID information, especially when a user or possessor of an RFID device is unsuspecting or not cognizant that the RFID device is being interrogated.
Others have attempted solutions at blocking RFID devices to enhance privacy. Examples can be seen in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0222878 A1 by Juels titled “Low-Complexity Cryptographic Techniques For Use With Radio Frequency Identification Devices”, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0223481 A1 by Juels, et al. titled “Method and Apparatus For Selective Blocking of Radio Frequency Identification Devices”, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0099268 A1 by Juels, et al. titled “Radio Frequency Identification System With Privacy Policy Implementation Based on Device Classification”. There are still needs, however, for enhanced, simple, flexible, and practical security and privacy protection for RFID and other contactless circuitry or chip devices.